MacDonald Mines Adds Land Position in Wawa and Provides Update on Wawa-Holdsworth Gold District Project

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Feb. 28, 2017) - MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:BMK) ("MacDonald Mines", the "Company", or "BMK") announces that it has begun a core sampling program at its Wawa-Holdsworth Project. The Company is also solidifying its position in the Wawa Gold District and has staked 84 hectares, approximately 10 kilometers southwest of the Wawa-Holdsworth Project (Figure 1).

Details of the Core Sampling Program

The Company has begun a systematic analysis of core from the 2008 Drill Program. It is developing a database of the lithological and geochemical signatures associated with high grade gold assays by utilizing XRF, magnetic susceptibility and SWIR measurements.

Initial observations found that the highest grades of gold are associated with deformed quartz-iron-carbonate veins, with additional sericite, chlorite and tourmaline alteration, hosted in mafic metavolcanic rocks. These veins locally contain visible gold, accompanied by chalcopyrite, galena and pyrite mineralization.

The Company will be assaying any previously un-sampled prospective zones, particularly those containing significant shearing and quartz-iron-carbonate veining, and re-sampling any significant quartz veins and analyzing them using metallic screening.

Highlights from the 2008 Drill Program include:

28.35 g/t gold over 1.07 m

17.9 g/t gold over 0.54 m

13.5 g/t gold over 0.66 m

4.07 g/t gold over 0.95 m

4.03 g/t gold over 0.90 m

Wawa-Holdsworth Oxide Sands

The Oxide Sands are one of the main gold targets on the property. Gold mineralization occurs in black sands composed of fine quartz, non-magnetic iron oxides (likely oxidized pyrite) and free gold. The Oxide Sands are interpreted to be derived from the weathering of an auriferous and pyritized Algoma-type iron formation. The pyritized iron formation is, so far, traced on the property over a 2 km-long strike length.

In 2002, a detailed and systematic sampling of the Oxide Sands was conducted over a strike length of 332.5 metres (Blocks A and B). The mineralized sands reached a depth of at least 8 metres and contained an average gold grade of 3.45 g/t and an average silver grade of 29.99 g/t.

Results from the 2002 Sampling Program:

BLOCK A

Length
(m)

Average
Width
(m)

Average
Depth
(m)

Gold
Grade
(g/t)

Silver
Grade
(g/t)

A-1

30.0

6.9

4.65

4.92

25.22

A-2

13.5

5.3

3.00

5.76

42.65

A-3

31.0

4.7

3.35

5.95

47.09

A-4

10.0

3.5

3.74

5.94

50.78

A-5

24.0

2.9

3.66

5.10

50.14

A-6

8.0

5.3

5.49

2.99

36.01

A-7

11.5

7.5

5.03

1.74

21.29

A-8

20.0

6.3

3.65

0.85

9.91

BLOCK B

B-1

21.0

6.4

1.92

1.17

17.43

B-2

53.0

3.8

1.14

1.20

17.94

B-3

17.5

2.8

1.60

3.04

44.06

B-4

17.5

5.5

3.20

3.88

50.56

B-5

10.0

5.5

3.20

3.51

41.28

B-6

45.5

3.6

2.28

1.84

16.83

B-7

20.0

3.0

1.83

1.54

18.60

Preliminary metallurgical testing on Oxide Sands composite samples recovered, without crushing, between 69% and 98.7 % gold. The Company has identified the Oxide Sands as a short-term target for gold production and is anticipating that additional Oxide Sands zones can be discovered along the 2 km strike length of the pyritized iron formation defined so far on the property.

MacDonald Mines will be conducting a geophysical EM survey to map the lateral extents of the oxide sands which will then be used for a more extensive sampling program.

New Land Position in the Wawa Gold District

MacDonald Mines is solidifying its position in the Wawa Gold District (Figure 2). The newly staked claims host a pyritized iron formation showing similar to the gold targets identified at the Wawa-Holdsworth Project. The staked claims encompass the MILE 12 OCCURRENCE in which the carbonate iron formation is partially pyritized. The Company believes these are the indicators of the circulation of sulfur-rich fluids that can also transport and deposit gold (similar to Wawa-Holdsworth). The geological environment, rich in iron is highly favourable to trap and concentrate gold.

Qualified Person

Quentin Yarie, P Geo. is the qualified person responsible for preparing, supervising and approving the scientific and technical content of this news release.

About MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd.

MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd. is a mineral exploration company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario focused on gold and silica exploration in Canada. The Company has built a portfolio of safe-jurisdiction, infrastructure-rich projects that demonstrate the greatest market potential for return. In December 2016, MacDonald Mines entered into an option and joint venture agreement with Noble Mineral Exploration Inc. to advance exploration on Noble's Wawa-Holdsworth Gold and Silver Project.

Highlights of the Wawa-Holdsworth Project:

Approximately 285 hectares, 20 kilometres northeast of the town of Wawa

This news release contains forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may", "should", "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "estimates", "predicts", "potential" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

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